A comprehensive new report from the World Inequality Lab (WIL) outlines a pathway to simultaneously raise global living standards, reduce inequality, and limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Published ahead of the World Inequality Conference in Paris, the report offers a broad policy framework focused on restructuring economic priorities and redistributing wealth to address the intertwined crises of climate change, social inequality, and political instability.

The report, the result of collaboration among 45 authors and more than 200 researchers worldwide, calls for transformative shifts including substantial wealth taxes on billionaires, a marked reduction in average working hours, significant dietary changes, and a reallocation of investment away from resource-intensive industries toward education and healthcare. According to the authors, implementing these measures could result in the average income for 89% of the global population doubling by 2100 while keeping temperature rise below the critical 2°C threshold.

Thomas Piketty, co-director of WIL and professor at the Paris School of Economics, emphasized the political dimension of the challenge. He warned that ideologies promoting unchecked industrial growth, such as those he associated with former U.S. President Donald Trump and similar leaders worldwide, threaten environmental and social stability. Piketty argued that cooperative redistribution of resources and power is essential to avoid catastrophic outcomes on both fronts.

Central to the report is the concept of "sufficiency," which advocates for prosperous, healthy lives without excessive material consumption. The authors propose cutting average working hours from 2,100 to 1,000 per year, promoting reduced red meat consumption due to its environmental impact, and doubling spending on education and healthcare to €8,400 and €14,400 per capita respectively. They argue that investments in these sectors impose considerably lower environmental footprints compared to manufacturing and industrial activity.

Addressing economic inequality is integral to the report’s vision. It projects a future global average gross national income of €5,000 per month, with the largest gains concentrated in the global south. At the same time, it recommends sharply increasing taxes on the ultra-wealthy—who currently hold about 6% of global wealth despite representing just 0.001% of the population—reducing their share to 0.05%. The bottom half of the world’s population is expected to see its share rise from 2% to 30%.

From a climate perspective, the report evaluates scenarios from the International Energy Agency for decarbonization through 2100. The most ambitious includes large-scale investment in renewables such as wind and solar, complemented by reductions in work hours and changes in consumption patterns, which collectively could limit warming to approximately 1.8°C.

To finance this transformation, the report proposes establishing a Global Justice Fund dedicated to supporting the energy transition and expanding social sectors to account for 38% of global GDP—up from 13% today. It also envisions the creation of a World Sovereign Fund to rebalance global public and private wealth closer to levels seen in 1970.

Co-author Cornelia Mohren acknowledged that the report’s vision might appear “utopian” but stressed the importance of demonstrating feasible alternatives to current trajectories. She highlighted that combining equality with respect for carbon budgets could offer hope amidst prevailing political challenges.

Piketty pointed to historical precedents such as Sweden and Norway, which significantly reduced inequality through government policy and investment in social services, as models for what could be achievable globally. He underscored the necessity of integrating social equity and environmental goals to avoid policy failures comparable to the Yellow Vest protests in France, where carbon taxes disproportionately affected lower-income groups.

The report’s release coincides with a conference featuring prominent economists and experts, introducing its proposals into the current discourse on climate justice and economic reform. Experts have described the report as both timely and technically feasible but caution that its implementation will require sustained political mobilization.